Introduction to Web Technologies and Their Applications

Geoffrey C. Fox

Abstract:

This paper discusses basic Web technologies, PERL, Java, JavaScript, VRML, databases (web-linked), and digital multimedia in contact of a layered WebWindows software architecture in which applications are built on top of multi-use services. We assume a community technology approach to both hardware and software. Perhaps the hardware model will be ATM connected PC's while the community software approach will not involve applications written for Windows NT/95 or UNIX, but rather for WebWindows, with interfaces defined by the standards of Web servers and clients. This universal environment will support WebTop productivity tools, such as WebWord, built in modular dynamic fashion, and will undermine the business model for large software companies. We illustrate these ideas with some examples including business enterprise systems (IntraNets), health care, financial services, command and control, manufacturing, and education.

• Introduction
• Framework for the Web and National Information Infrastructure
  • Client-Server Computing
  • The National Information Infrastructure (NII)
  • WebWindows
  • Generic Services on the NII
• Some Specific Web Technologies
  • PERL4 and PERL5-CGI Scripts
  • Java and Its Use on the Web
  • JavaScript
  • VRML for the Real World on the Web
  • Web-Linked Databases
  • Remarks on Digital Audio and Video
• Six Typical Web Windows Application Areas
  • IntraNets and Business Enterprise Information Systems
  • WebMed: Web Technologies in Health Care
  • Web Technology in the Financial Industry
  • Web Technology in Distance Education
    • Infrastructure issues
    • Human interaction issues
    • Some Base NPAC Technology Experiments
    • WebWisdom
  • Manufacturing and the National Information Infrastructure
  • Command and Control or Crisis Management on the NII
• References